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East Asia
India and North Korean economic reform
The economic paradigm in the Asia-Pacific region is changing very quickly. America, which used to be the dominant player both economically and militarily, is no longer calling the shots. Not long ago it was the biggest trading partner of almost all countries in the region. Not anymore. Slowly but surely…
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Human rights in N. Korea
Seoul’s pure but positive involvement needed A key U.N. committee adopted a resolution Tuesday denouncing North Korea’s rampant abuse of human rights, “by consensus and without a vote” for the first time. It shows the international community is one and the same in condemning the systematic, widespread and grave human…
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Preparing for the end of the Afghan war
International combat operations in Afghanistan, now involving mostly U.S. troops, are to come to a formal end at the close of 2014, at roughly 13 years by far America’s longest-running war. The families of the returning troops will be delighted to see them come home; the rest of the country…
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World
Ukraine’s missed opportunity
As expected, Ukraine’s recent election was reportedly riddled with massive fraud, albeit on an arguably lesser scale than the corruption which triggered the 2004 Orange Revolution. Meanwhile, the charismatic Yulia Tymoshenko, one of the leaders of the Orange Revolution remains locked up. Tymoshenko’s incarceration is indicative of the price she…
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World
Whos and whys of EU Association Agreement policy
e Agreement emphasizes the importance of the United Nations Charter principles, in particular the observance of human rights, democratic principles; while economic freedom and respect for human rights and democratic principles constitute the document’s essential element. I’m talking about the Association Agreement (AA) signed between the EU and Egypt in…
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Conscientious objectors
Time to consider introducing alternative service For decades, the issue of conscientious objection has been a taboo in this country where constant military tension has been the norm along the heavily fortified border with North Korea. In 2007, the then Roh Moo-hyun administration announced a plan to introduce an alternative…
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East Asia
Prosecutor called Mr. Strangelove
A sex scandal is shaking the prosecution to its foundations. A 30-year-old law school graduate, who was a trainee in the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutor’s Office, engaged in sexual acts twice and sexual intercourse once with a 43-year-old female accused of shoplifting. The prosecution asked for an arrest warrant against…
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World
Reasons for Romney’s loss
The Republican Party had a very good shot at winning the 2012 U.S. presidential election. One major reason was that, before this election, no U.S. President had succeeded in reelection when the unemployment rate was higher than 7.3 percent. At the time of the election, the unemployment rate was 7.8…
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East Asia
China’s leadership change
When Hu Jintao became China’s leader a decade ago, many hoped that the quiet, taciturn 59-year-old would turn out to be a closet liberal who would launch political reforms. They were disappointed. On Nov. 15, when he stepped down as general secretary of the Communist Party in favor of Xi…
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Nuclear madness
After the loss of 10 million American lives in the Three-Mile Island calamity in 1979, the death of two billion in the Chernobyl holocaust in 1986, and now the abandonment of all of northern Japan following the death of millions in last year’s Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, it is hardly surprising…
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